Scottish manufacturing firms have achieved 'record' annual efficiency savings totalling £28 million with the support of Scottish Enterprise, new figures suggest.

The figures, compiled by Scottish Enterprise, show Scotland's enterprise agency supported 202 manufacturing companies in the 2015/16 year, helping them to achieve productivity savings through business efficiency projects.

The food & drink sector was the largest single beneficiary with 45 projects delivering £5.7 million in total savings. Geographically, Fife achieved the most in value added benefits with 19 projects achieving a total of £3.6 million in efficiency savings.

Announcing the figures, Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Jobs and Fair Work, Keith Brown said: “The Scottish Manufacturing Advisory Service forms a vital part of our support for the sector and working through this service, Scottish Enterprise has helped to deliver record efficiency improvements and productivity gains of £113 million over three years to the 202 manufacturing businesses it supports helping them innovate and identify where they need to invest to build their global competitiveness.”

Scottish Enterprise chief executive, Dr Lena Wilson, added: “Today’s manufacturers are focused on becoming even more productive and are increasingly taking advantage of new digital technologies to transform how they do business.

“This focus is helping the sector compete globally and will see the industry go from strength to strength as it exports more products to more markets around the world.”